Connect with me on

Pages

Selling yourself short

So, I’ve been selling my crochet work for about a year now and as those of you who sell your work will know; it’s a tough world out there for us little handmade businesses.

I’m often asked how much my elephant string costs and nine times out of ten people will laugh in my face when I tell them the price, well, I have news for you: this year I’m raising my prices because I have a vision for my business.

Pictured below is my logo,

the name is pretty self explanatory, I sell crochet goods. The bag part came about because that’s how my reintroduction to crochet came about. I made myself a bag.

What I need to keep in mind though is the line of text below the name.
From now on I’m calling it my mission statement.
It reads ‘handmade crochet articles for the connoisseur’. I chose those words for a reason and when people tell me my goods are too expensive I need to remind myself of why I chose them.Firstly, the handmade part:
I’m stating that my goods are made by an individual (me), and that means that they are individual items. Even if I use a pattern (mostly my own designs) and they look the same, each item is still made by my own hands.

Secondly, the crochet part:
I’m reiterating what is already stated in the name of the business. I make crochet articles. I do not sell knitted items or sewing, it’s only crochet for me. I might add a lining to a bag but the bag is 100% crocheted.

Thirdly, the articles part:
I chose articles over goods or items because of the ‘art’ in it. It denotes a sense of upper class. I’m not trying to be snobbish but if I take my elephants for example, I put about two weeks worth of work into each string and the yarn is carefully chosen, good quality, hand dyed South African yarn, plus the pattern is my own. I need to market to clients with money otherwise I won’t sell a single elephant string.

Lastly, the connoisseur part:
Just like the articles part, connoisseur helps establish the target market. I am looking for clients who understand quality, who will look for out-of-the-ordinary goods, who appreciate handmade goods and who are not upset about paying for such items.

So, having said that I have decided that I will no longer let people who tell me my prices are too high discourage me, or distract me from my goal.
I will search out stores, online or not, who will sell my work to my target market.

That is what I am going to do!
It doesn’t mean that every crochet, or handmade business, has to have the same market though. In fact it would suck if every handmade business aimed for the same market because no one would make any money, would they?

Yesterday I asked my facebook fans how they deal with the rejection of being told their prices were too high, here are some of their thoughts and my responses:

“I did not sell my stuff for very long… just 2-3 craft fairs in one year. I got tired of some buyers saying my stuff was too expensive and some other sellers saying I was selling too low. Seemed like I couldn’t please anyone. You have to have a thick skin!! I never tried to sell my stuff again.“

I think that’s the problem with craft fairs, isn’t it?
When I started selling a few things here and there I thought about making things to sell at the local farmers’ market, which happens every Saturday. After discussing it with my hubby I decided against it.
He had a very good point: he said, that most people who go to craft fairs are actually there to look for ideas, kind of like a real life Pinterest, if you like 😉 They will look at your work, ask you questions, seem very interested and then most of the time, they will walk away without buying anything.

Well, at least that’s what it’s like here and I must say, it’s true. I go to the farmers’ market for the coffee, the food and the window shopping. I hardly ever buy anything non-food or drink related. I don’t steal ideas but I certainly don’t spend lots of money (like I have lots of money hahaha) on hand crafted goods.
That’s why I have decided to sell online, there are so many different options, like Etsy or Dawanda or From The Heart Emporium, the South African online store I will be selling through.

Also, it’s not about pleasing EVERYBODY, it’s about pleasing your preferred clientele, whether that be lower, middle or higher income clients.
I think in order to make a handmade business a success you have to decide who you want to sell to and forget about the rest.

“If u based ur price on an hourly wage (minimum) and then added the cost of materials …. They would faint …. U r providing a product that they r unable to produce themselves … It is unique and made with a love that only another crafter can understand …”

The part about the pricing is true!
I do feel that if you advertise to the right market though even non-crafter will appreciate your work.

Pricing handmade objects is incredibly difficult, isn’t it? I mean hands up if you’ve never broken into a sweat about trying to come up with the correct price!

I took a leap of faith this year and bought five kg of yarn from the supplier directly. This makes the cost of the materials much less and it gives me more room to play with when I do my pricing.

I’ve been thinking about whether or not to share my pricing formula here and thought, yes, why not?
I think being open and transparent is a good thing. So, here it is:

Materials: yarn price (per skein) x number of skeins (whole) + any other materials used, such as stuffing, embroidery thread etc. I don’t work in parts, because I still need to buy the whole skein, if that makes sense.)

Time: materials x 3 (This may sound silly and illogical but MY logic is that if I were to charge my hourly photography rate for the elephants they would be ridiculously expensive and no one would ever buy them. If you have a better idea I would love to hear it 😉 )

Cost: Materials + time

Wholesale: Cost x 1.5

Retail: Wholesale x 1.6

Your profit is your retail price minus your cost price.

Just in case you think I’m crazy: you will never make any money if you don’t make sure you make a profit from your work!

And that is the point of runing your own business, isn’t it? To make money, maybe not lots and lots and lots of money but enough money to make a living.

Here’s a photo of my new packaging I think it goes nicely with the upper income bracket that I’m targeting 😉

Comments (13)

You are so brave for sharing this with us! I’ve had my fair share of negative comments about my prices (or products) and I think you are absolutely right; if you love what you do then you should always get paid to do it, and not a couple of cents because it’s “just” handmade! 🙂
xo,
wink

I think the negative is what stops me from selling at craft fairs. Plus I talk myself out of it by saying, who in the world is going to buy my stuff?. This is not to say that I haven’t sold purses, a few afghans, and a lot of Christmas trees, but that was through friends and relatives. I guess for me, I need more confidence. Plus, the area I live in is very economically depressed, ad we are. What to do personally.
I really appreciate your advice. I think its very good and very sound business wise.

You are so right! I am in a similar place here in the the states. It is sooo hard to put a price on your “art”. I think the economy has something to do with the pricing right now too. I don’t have that much disposable income myself and often the luxuries (what we fit into) go first. I have worked out what items I make that take the least time and products and I can make the most profit from. I make a lot of these and those where I “lose” money I figure it evens out somewhat. I do refuse to be bullied about price though. It is our heart and soul that goes into making things. No wonder putting a price on it is hard. I’m still searching for that “target market” as where we live it is rather depressed as well. Let’s encourage each other here!

Love your article, you make excellent points!
I was commiserating about this with a fellow crafter a while back and what she said has stuck with me. I went something like this: When you walk into a dollar store or other low priced chain, you can feel the atmosphere, the karma, if you will. The merchandise is made by unhappy, underpaid workers in awful conditions and the imprint stays with their products, you can feel it when you walk into the store. Handcrafted items are made by someone who really wants to make this item, made with care and love. Made to be used/worn with pride, loved and enjoyed – not tossed in the trash in two weeks.
Remembering her words help me price my work for appreciation rather than the quick sale.
I did one summer of farmer’s markets and un-juried craft fairs. Never again. I found myself frantically making stuff that I hoped I could sell a few of, for a lower price, just to make money. Stuff I didn’t even like or enjoy making.

Great post, very informative, thankyou. Do you have an Etsy store (or equivalent) where I can see your items? Those elephants are just gorgeous! Sorry if the link to store is obvious, I’m probably just missing it 😀

Thank you!
No store at present. I’m currently working on getting that done. I will post the details of the store once I’m ready.
I have some of my work on my Facebook page, if you want to have a look there